


Working With Something New

by Ghostpirate



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Fluff, some sadstuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-27
Updated: 2012-12-27
Packaged: 2017-11-22 16:33:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/611893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghostpirate/pseuds/Ghostpirate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a distant timeline, Nepeta licks her computer screen to read the last message on it.</p>
<p>GC: 4R3 YOU OK4Y >:?</p>
<p>Though she knows Terezi won’t get the message, she responds.</p>
<p>AC: :33 < thank you</p>
            </blockquote>





	Working With Something New

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fiftymillionstars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiftymillionstars/gifts).



"AC purrowls toward her matesprit, claws out and ready to pounce!"

Terezi rolls out of the way as Nepeta lunges, easily dodging the maneuver. In retaliation, Terezi springs up and pins Nepeta by stretching out perpendicular across her back; she cackles triumphantly.

"GC successfully evades and turns the tables on her unsuspecting prey." Terezi quickly switches position and licks Nepeta's cheek. Nepeta growls playfully and attempts to squirm away. "Nice try, though. It was a valiant attempt, heheh."

"It was more than valiant! It was only a precursor." Nepeta flips them over, hovering above her matesprit with her eyes narrowed. "See? I am purrfectly capable of besting you."

They tumble around for a few minutes, each trying to keep the other pinned for good. In the end, they stop on their sides, facing each other.

“This was a tie,” Terezi says, flicking Nepeta’s nose. The shorter wrinkles it in response then leans forward and bumps their foreheads together.

“I let you win!” Nepeta insists, holding up her arm and flexing. “I have the muscles of a hoofbeast. See?”

Terezi sniffs, blinks, then chuckles. She grabs Nepeta’s bicep and squeezes. “I don’t think so.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Without warning, Nepeta stands up and pulls Terezi with her, slinging the other girl over her shoulder. Terezi laughs and goes limp as the cat-like girl lugs her around the cave. She goes on to lift Terezi above her head.

“No one’s as strong as I am!”

Terezi answers that by pushing Nepeta’s cap over her eyes; afterward, she slips from the girl’s grip and lands lightly on her feet while Nepeta rights her headwear, only for Terezi to once again drag it down.

Nepeta struggles and exclaims confusedly, “Terezi!”

“What do I smell like?”

“What? Why are we doing this now!?”

“Nepeta, answer me. What do I smell like?”

Keeping a hold of the hat, Terezi moves closer; Nepeta stops her struggling and instead lays her hands over Terezi’s. Taking a long sniff, Nepeta pauses.

“I’m… not sure.”

“You have a wonderful sense of smell, so use it.”

It takes a few more sniffs before Nepeta tilts her head forward and takes a whiff of Terezi’s face and neck.

“Well, you smell like chalk and,” another sniff, “a little like sap. Also, a bit like my cave; you smell nice.”

Terezi grins. “Okay, but that wasn’t what I was asking.”

“I’m not sure what you’re asking then! I can’t smell like you can. Colors are just colors, not scents or tastes. I can only see with my eyes.” Nepeta puffs out her cheeks and pulls away. They had this conversation once before, and it ended similarly: both of them riled up and offended. It was a subject they left alone after that but with things as they were, with the game they and their friends were about to play, Terezi thinks maybe it is time to bring it up once more. It might save her matesprit’s life, somehow.

“Look, just try again. Each color has a certain smell and taste. It was hard for me, too, at first, and I was scared, but I learned. You don’t have the pressure I did; you can still see. But this could help you one day!”

Nepeta peeks out from under her cap. She studies Terezi’s face, how her eyebrows are drawn together and her sightless eyes express every bit of emotion she is feeling. It hits Nepeta that this is more important to her partner than she thought.

“I’m not doing this because you tell me to,” Nepeta asserts, pouting.

“You never really listen to me anyway, though there are a myriad of reasons why you should.”

Nepeta sticks her tongue out and covers her eyes for the third time. “Okay, I’ll try to purrfect it this time.”

“There’s no way you could ‘purrfect’ it in one go.”

“Says you.”

“Yes, says me. I am the authority on this subject.”

“Hmph. I bet I could do this in my sleep.” Nepeta adjusts her hat so it will stay over her eyes while freeing up her hands.

“This time, don’t tell me what I actually smell like.”

Nepeta shushes her. “I know, I know.”

After taking a deep breath, Nepeta moves closer to the taller girl and takes her hands so she can pull Terezi into her personal space. They stand there for five long minutes, though time is irrelevant to them in this moment. Nepeta breathes evenly, each time sorting through many different smells as Terezi waits patiently. When Nepeta speaks, she sounds uncertain.  
“I can sort of tell the difference, but it’s really hard. I think not being blind makes this much trickier.”

“Probably. Tell me what you smell.”

“Um, I can smell the… gray of your skin, and the red of your eyes, but only slightly. Your scent overpowers all the subtle smells of the colors.” Nepeta takes one last big sniff and shakes her head. “I really can’t get this, Terezi.”

She uncovers her eyes and grins to banish the bad mood. “But we’ll try again later! Maybe it would be easier to learn to taste colors and stuff instead. I’m not going to give up so easily, and I have a wonderfur teacher.”

Terezi arches an eyebrow. “’Wonderfur’?”

“Okay, so that was a bit of a stretch. Anyway, let’s go do something else, like, hmm… like update my shipping wall! I haven’t touched it since we became matesprits. You can draw on it, too!”

Nepeta releases Terezi’s hands and runs over to a corner to rummage for some drawing utensils. Terezi follows her, forgetting about the game her friends want to play and the predictions some of them have about it. She is happy right now with her matesprit and the events to come are hardly worth the worry. 

\--

In an offshoot timeline, Nepeta licks her computer screen to read the last message on it.

GC: 4R3 YOU OK4Y >:?

Though she knows Terezi won’t get the message, she responds.

AC: :33 < thank you


End file.
